Kur to Beemon: 'You overstepped'

February 26, 2004|BY FRED GRAY NEWS-REVIEW STAFF WRITER

CHARLEVOIX - Charlevoix County prosecuting attorney Mary Beth Kur has ruled that county drain commissioner JoAnne Beemon has no authority to assert that she sets and enforces policy on storm water issues in the county.

The question of the limits of the drain commissioner's authority has been brewing since her election as the only Green Party candidate to win local office in the state in the 2000 elections.

Beemon, an acknowledged conservationist, has sought to define her role as drain commission as an activist, educator and protector of the county's water resources.

She has won the backing of several local environmental groups, including WATCH, the Water and Air Team for Charlevoix (WATCH).

But the board of commissioners has sought to limit her authority, setting her salary at $1 a year and paying per diems for time spent in what have traditionally been the duties of drain commissioners in the county.

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On Feb. 12, Beemon sent a letter to Wal-Mart, advising the company of her interest in its proposed supercenter development for Charlevoix.

With the letter Beemon included a copy of the "Stormwater Runoff Control Guidelines" that she had issued unilaterally about a month ago and said they were the standards she applied for review of storm water systems and drainage plans.

When Beemon presented the guidelines to the board, board chairman Victor Patrick questioned whether Beemon had the authority to issue them without the board's approval, and asked prosecutor Kur for an opinion.

On Feb. 24, Kur wrote to Patrick that neither the guidelines nor the letter to Wal-Mart had any effect.

"Both documents purport to give her as drain commissioner the power to oversee storm water runoff and impose stricter guidelines on developers than the county ordinance," Kur wrote. "This is authority Ms. Beemon does not have under the law.

"I have reviewed the (Michigan) Drain Code and I find no authority for Ms. Beemon's assertions of authority. Absent specific authorization by the county board of commissioners, I found no authority for the drain commissioner to unilaterally impose the guidelines presented against Wal-Mart or any other developer.

"In short, the guidelines presented are unenforceable."

Beemon, at a drain commissioners convention downstate and unable to attend Wednesday night's board meeting, told the News-Review today that drain commissioners have had rules and regulations since the 1960s under the authority of Act 288 of 1967.

"Down here, everyone is in 100 percent agreement that drain commissioners should and must have clear standards and rules," she said. "I've done that and I feel good about that."